MOSCOW, June 4 (RAPSI) - A court in Egypt has sentenced a British national to death for the alleged attempt to smuggle three metric tons of cannabis (hashish) into the country, The Independent reported on Monday.

The court found that Charles Raymond Ferndale, 74, was part of an "international smuggling gang." He was detained together with a Pakistani and three residents of the Seychelles on board his sailing boat near the coastal town of Marsa Alam in the Red Sea.

According to The Independent, they were arrested in 2011 when security forces and troops raided Ferndale's yacht Liberty as it sailed through the Red Sea about 100 miles from the Egyptian-Sudanese border.

The British Foreign Office has expressed deep concern over the death sentence.

"We are opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. Our consular team in Cairo are in contact with the British prisoner and we will do our utmost to prevent this execution," the Foreign Office said.

The sentence was handed down on April 7 and upheld on June 3. The case will go to appeal and the final decision will be made in around two months' time.